Celebrity Equinox June 30 - July 7 Review

This past June 30th we had the pleasure of sailing on the Equinox for its Western Caribbean itinerary (Key West, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Costa Maya). It was our 11th cruise overall, and our second time on Celebrity. Below are my notes, critiques and comments from throughout the cruise.

Positives:

- Public Spaces:

First of all, I think the Equinox is the most visually stunning ship I've ever sailed on. The public spaces are so modern and clean that it feels like the ship is brand new. As has been noted, the spaces are also very well thought out. In particular, we really enjoyed hanging out in the adults only solarium, which maintained a serene feel at all hours of the day, despite crowds. It never felt too humid (a problem we've found with some of RCCL's solariums) and the area was lit with lovely colour changing lights at night.

- Oceanview Café:

The Oceanview Cafe deserves major props as well. The area never felt overcrowded, and the food served there was of very good quality -- unlike the overly cheap buffet fare we've sometimes found on other lines. I really enjoyed that there was always a curry option available as well!

- Entertainment:

I loved the musical shows put on by the Equinox's talented cast, and though the "story" was mostly lost, it didn't really matter. "Topper" in particular was really imaginative in its choreography and costumes. The 2 comedians that were aboard during our trip were also very good.

- Friendliness:

Celebrity's staff and officers have always been extremely friendly and talkative, and we really appreciate that about the line. Numerous times we struck up conversations with ships' officers -- a far cry from the fairly cold reception we received from officers on Norwegian.

Negatives:

- Main Dining Room:

Though our waitress was wonderful, I unfortunately cannot say the same of the main dining room food during our trip. The soups I ordered were watered down and often arrived cold, and family members who ordered cooked-to-order items reported they were very overcooked. I ordered the Veal Cordon-Bleu on the last night, and was shocked at how tough and over-salted it was. Frankly, it tasted like a microwave dinner.

Another thing we noticed was that the portions were absolutely tiny! It's painfully clear that Celebrity's been cutting back a lot here. When I ordered the beef tournedo, I was surprised by how small it was, accompanied by two lonely potato wedges and a sad little portion of broccoli. As a result, we frequently overheard people around us asking for double portions of different items.

- The App:

I love that Celebrity is trying to become more modern by integrating its app with the ship's activities, and I'd love to see this replace the daily letters sometime in the future, but it's clear that they aren't there yet. At least 5 times throughout the cruise, we arrived somewhere for an event only to be told that the app was wrong and the event was actually at the other end of the ship.

- Debarkation reminders:

I understand that it's important to be clear with guests about disembarkation details so as to avoid confusion on the last day, but debarkation tags in the room 3 days early? Not cool. We also noticed that as of the second-to-last day of the cruise, every single announcement and every single pre-show or pre-event monologue was accompanied by reminders that "today is your final port day of the cruise" "tomorrow is the final trivia of the cruise", etc. A small detail, but it was kind of grating to be reminded of this at every possible turn.

- Not using available spaces:

Less of a complaint and more of a remark. There were some spaces on the ship that we noticed were woefully underused. For example, there isn't a single event I can recall taking place in Celebrity Central. At one point there was a "majority rules" gameshow that took place in the hallway outside Celebrity Central, despite that space being completely empty and ready to host such an event.

Similarly, the Slush Bar was closed for all but about 4 hours of our cruise. I'm really not sure what's happening with this space -- maybe Celebrity has decided to abandon the concept and turn it into something else in the next dry dock?

Other Notes:

- We stayed at the Hampton Inn Brickell before the cruise, and for the most part it was a lovely hotel, and I would highly recommend it to anybody staying in Miami pre/post cruise. That being said, definitely avoid the shuttle there.

Upon arrival, we booked the cruise port shuttle for the following day, thinking this would be an easy stress-free way to get to the ship the next day. Boy were we wrong. When we got to the lobby for our shuttle the next morning (10 minutes early, might I add), we were practically yelled at by the shuttle organizer because apparently 2 other guests hadn't showed up and they were going to have empty space. (How is that my problem?) They huffed and puffed about it and seemed unwilling to take us, which I don't understand -- why would you turn away 4 customers because 2 others didn't show up? The hotel concierge was shocked by how rude they were being, and we ended up just taking an Uber (which was cheaper anyways).

- We had heard about Persian Gardens day passes, so we inquired about this on the first day, hoping to take advantage of it on the first sea day. Apparently, though, Celebrity is no longer offering these (the spa concierge told us they were only doing expensive week-long passes now). That's a shame, as we would've bought the one-day ones.

- In Key West, we were told by a crew member checking guests out that due to new US rules no food whatsoever (including prepackaged items) was allowed to be brought aboard from Key West. This seems bizarre to me, as it could only end up harming vendors in Key West. Anybody know if there's any truth to this?

Hi Canadian Cruiser98:

Thanks for your review.

Most unfortunate that Celebrity has chosen to cheapen the MDR experience. Hardly "modern luxury" (for all) as stated in Celebrity's marketing. This is an increasing observation by many (including my friends) and an insult to Celebrity's once proud legacy of "simply the best" pre 2013.

Happy cruising

Hi Canadian Cruiser98:

 

Thanks for your review.

 

Most unfortunate that Celebrity has chosen to cheapen the MDR experience. Hardly "modern luxury" (for all) as stated in Celebrity's marketing. This is an increasing observation by many (including my friends) and an insult to Celebrity's once proud legacy of "simply the best" pre 2013.

 

Happy cruising

My Bride and I were on the June 2-9 cruise on the Equinox and ate in the MDR every night and the food was always very good and was also warm. I have noticed that the portions are smaller (which I need LOL) but you can have as much or as many different thing you would like, just ask. Thank you for the review and I'm sorry your experience wasn't as good as ours. Cheers!

My Bride and I were on the June 2-9 cruise on the Equinox and ate in the MDR every night and the food was always very good and was also warm. I have noticed that the portions are smaller (which I need LOL) but you can have as much or as many different thing you would like, just ask. Thank you for the review and I'm sorry your experience wasn't as good as ours. Cheers!

I agree 1000%. We were on the 6/2 cruise as well We had what I would call the best main dining room experience in a long time. We are by no means foodies. However, everything was warm and tasted delicious. Probably best celebrity cruise yet. Met a lot of great people at the martini bar

I agree 1000%. We were on the 6/2 cruise as well We had what I would call the best main dining room experience in a long time. We are by no means foodies. However, everything was warm and tasted delicious. Probably best celebrity cruise yet. Met a lot of great people at the martini bar

And we may have been some of them! I was sporting my kilt on "Chic" nights. Cheers!

My Bride and I were on the June 2-9 cruise on the Equinox and ate in the MDR every night and the food was always very good and was also warm. I have noticed that the portions are smaller (which I need LOL) but you can have as much or as many different thing you would like, just ask. Thank you for the review and I'm sorry your experience wasn't as good as ours. Cheers!

I agree 1000%. We were on the 6/2 cruise as well We had what I would call the best main dining room experience in a long time. We are by no means foodies. However, everything was warm and tasted delicious. Probably best celebrity cruise yet. Met a lot of great people at the martini bar

Thanks for your comments. Quick question… Do you remember the cost of the weekly pass to the Persian Gardens? That’s something I always enjoy and I have not been able to get a handle on the pricing for a one-week pass.

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Thanks for posting about your trip! Was wondering did you do any trips from Costa Maya or Cozumel? We will be doing this trip in January and I was hoping to get some information on Kohunlich Mayan Ruins and Tulum Ruins. I like to organise my own trips so anybody with any information I would be most grateful.

Thanks

Noreen

Thanks for posting about your trip! Was wondering did you do any trips from Costa Maya or Cozumel? We will be doing this trip in January and I was hoping to get some information on Kohunlich Mayan Ruins and Tulum Ruins. I like to organise my own trips so anybody with any information I would be most grateful.

Thanks

Noreen

We didn't visit either of those ruins on this trip, but we did visit Tulum in the past while staying in Playa Del Carmen. It was lovely, though I do suggest getting a tour guide, either through an organized tour or onsite. We made the mistake of going on our own with a taxi, and though the ruins were interesting to look at, we found the experience lost something without having someone to explain what we were looking at. The beach there was nice too, very picturesque, but I seem to remember the water being somewhat rocky, so I'd bring water shoes just to be safe.

Hope that helps!

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Thanks for your comments. Quick question… Do you remember the cost of the weekly pass to the Persian Gardens? That’s something I always enjoy and I have not been able to get a handle on the pricing for a one-week pass.

 

 

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I didn't pay much attention to it since we weren't really considering the option, so I may be wrong on this, but I think she said 200$ a person?

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I didn't pay much attention to it since we weren't really considering the option, so I may be wrong on this, but I think she said 200$ a person?

 

 

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Oooh, ouch!

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Oooh, ouch!

 

 

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I may be wrong on this though. All I remember is that we thought it was way too much and the figure ended with a 99. [emoji54]

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Thanks for your thoughts; we cruise in 2 weeks on the Equinox.

Our MDR experience on the Millenium was great. Sounds like others had good experiences on your cruise; perhaps the wait staff wasn't as good in getting out food promptly? We had a Princess cruise where our fabulous waiter had a horrible assistant (he would disappear during the entire meal!)

I completely agree that having the "game shows" in the rotunda with lots of traffic is bizarre--why wouldn't you hold it in Celebrity Central if it is empty. I think they would do better to put a sliding wall to Celebrity Central--close for movies, open in the evening when you want walk-by traffic.

And I DON'T like to be reminded my cruise is almost over until the day before! I hope you noted this on the survey--I will be sure to on mine!

I may be wrong on this though. All I remember is that we thought it was way too much and the figure ended with a 99. [emoji54]

 

 

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The Cruise Critic description of the ship lists it at about $75 for 6 days. That’s from 2017, I can’t imagine it would’ve gone up that much, but maybe they were way off when they did the article.

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Thanks for sharing. Does anyone remember who the casino host was? Thanks again.....

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Thank you for information.....will definitely hire a guide and hopefully get more people to join us. We are doing a B2B from 19th January.

I am puzzled by the new US regulation that prohibits you from bringing on board pre-packaged food in Key West. Key West is a part of the United States. In fact, it is part of Monroe County in the state of Florida. Why couldn't American made food be allowed on an American ported ship? The logic for that new rule just blows me away. Surely there wouldn't be new tariffs on that pre-packaged food. :confused:

Thanks for the review.